Millions of dollars in bank accounts were frozen, dozens of luxury cars and boats were seized, and the government has taken claim over dozens of Florida properties as part of the criminal case against the controversial nonprofit Allied Veterans of the World, newly released case documents show. Meanwhile, an Orlando Sentinel review of the state campaign-contribution records shows that Allied, its affiliated entities and top players have made at least $1.3 million in political contributions during the past four years to political parties as well as key legislators who had power to influence state gaming laws.

Before she was elected Orange County mayor, Teresa Jacobs pushed to ban corporate political donations and stop supporters from pooling their money beyond the $500 individual-donor limit. Jacobs lost the fight for those reforms - and now she plans to employ those strategies when she kicks off her 2014 re-election fundraising campaign May 30 . For her campaign - "Smart. Tough. Making a difference" - consultants for Jacobs have identified more than $300,000 in potential contributions from tourism and development circles, and others - such as key figures in the $1.1 billion downtown-venues deal and from opponents of a paid sick-time proposal.

The following political contributions were recorded in and around the Clermont area during the period of Oct. 8-21: Oct. 10, Becky Elswick, Chris Dorworth, $500, Republican candidate or current state representative

Imagine you live in a neighborhood with a school your community has called its own for years. A school you and your neighbors take great pride in and in which you've invested substantial time and effort. A school you sent your own children to, and one which you hope your children will choose to send their children to. Your neighborhood school struggles, though, and a charter-school company sees an opportunity to add the school to its portfolio. So the company hires a political consultant and succeeds in convincing more than half the school's parents to sign a petition to turn the school over to the company.

THE MUNICIPAL Securities Rulemaking Board said Wednesday it voted to propose a rule banning municipal securities dealers from making political contributions to issuers to obtain their business.The MSRB's proposed rule would also require dealers to disclose for a four-year period all political contributions to issuers with whom they have done business.

I am somewhat surprised that the military is concerned that the Chinese may learn some secrets from the downed surveillance airplane. I was under the impression that during the Bill Clinton presidency the Chinese had either stolen or purchased all our military secrets with political contributions. Chester H. Poole Deland

YOUR EDITORIAL ''A Priceless Bid for Fairness'' was mistaken about why the National League of Cities has spoken against new federal regulations regarding campaign contributions by Wall Street investment firms. I also object strongly to the demeaning characterization of our president, Donald Fraser, who this year is being honored as ''Minnesotan of the Year'' for his 40 years of selfless and distinguished public service as a leader in his state, as a member of Congress, as mayor of Minneapolis and as a leader of the nation's cities.

The former police chief of Newark was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday on charges that are part of a lengthy federal probe into allegations of corruption in New Jersey's largest city. William Celester, 53, admitted in July that he defrauded the city of $30,000, accepted more than $26,000 in illegal gratuities and filed a false tax return. Prosecutors said he gave the money to his wife and girlfriends, made political contributions and paid for vacations.

Executives at the Unisys Corp. plant in Great Neck, N.Y., which is a focus of the nationwide defense contract scandal, were told by their superiors to make thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Alfonse D'Amato of New York, and at least five of the executives were told to falsify their expense accounts to get repaid, according to a secret Unisys report given to the federal government.The 18-page report, a copy of which has been obtained by Newsday, also states that repayment for the phony expense claims, which amounted to at least $5,300, was to come from a corporate expense account that was routinely submitted by the company to the Department of Defense for reimbursement of business expenses.

The Chinese government has made two official protests to the United States demanding that the Clinton administration stop its officials from leaking ''hearsay'' to newspapers about alleged Chinese political contributions, Chinese and U.S. officials said Friday.The complaints were lodged at senior levels, most recently on the eve of Vice President Al Gore's arrival this week in Beijing, with the Chinese complaining that the leaks to the media ''have ulterior motives.''While they say they understand that the American press is free, ''they say they don't understand how these leaks can continue, and that you as a government have a responsibility to stop these leaks from official sources,'' a senior U.S. official said.

Millions of dollars in bank accounts were frozen, dozens of luxury cars and boats were seized, and the government has taken claim over dozens of Florida properties as part of the criminal case against the controversial nonprofit Allied Veterans of the World, newly released case documents show. Meanwhile, an Orlando Sentinel review of the state campaign-contribution records shows that Allied, its affiliated entities and top players have made at least $1.3 million in political contributions during the past four years to political parties as well as key legislators who had power to influence state gaming laws.

Across the country, would-be censors continue to debate whether Americans should enact a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC and ban so-called "super PACs. " Bucking that trend, Integrity Florida, which bills itself as a nonpartisan ethics watchdog, has called for Florida to repeal its limits on contributions to state political candidates. And although there are problems with other aspects of their campaign-finance proposal, on the issue of contribution limits they are absolutely right.

The following political contributions were recorded in and around the Clermont area during the period of Oct. 8-21: Oct. 10, Becky Elswick, Chris Dorworth, $500, Republican candidate or current state representative

Annapolis ' mayor and all but one city council member have signed a letter asking Congress to amend the Constitution to allow regulation of political contributions and spending. The letter written on Mayor Joshua Cohen 's city letterhead criticizes the effect of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, which has led to record spending in political contests and the explosion of so-called super-PACs, or political action committees. "We believe that these decisions promote an inordinate and corrupting power of wealth in our political system, to the detriment of ordinary citizens," the letter said.

Michael Hiltzik infers in his column Sunday that Proposition 32 is a big lie -- because it prohibits both corporations and labor unions such as the California Teachers Assn. from extracting involuntary political contributions from the paychecks of workers. Hiltzik argues that its prohibition of corporate deductions is of minor impact, but that union political fund-raising will be crippled. He is amazingly untroubled by the fact that taking such payroll deductions for political purposes without consent is patently immoral.

An investor's proposal to give Ecolab Inc. shareholders more oversight over the company's political contributions was soundly defeated at Ecolab's annual meeting Thursday. Company spokesman Roman Blahoski said late Thursday that a final vote tally was not yet available but said the measure received less than 5 percent of the vote. NorthStar Asset Management had proposed that Ecolab change its current practice of disclosing previous contributions without shareholder approval to allowing a shareholder vote on anticipated contributions.

WASHINGTON -- All elected officials, and those who help finance elections in the expectation that certain promises will be kept -- and everyone who cares about the rule of law -- should hope the Supreme Court agrees to hear Don Siegelman's appeal of his conviction. Until the court clarifies what constitutes quid pro quo political corruption, Americans engage in politics at their peril because prosecutors have dangerous discretion to criminalize politics. Siegelman, a Democrat, was elected Alabama's governor in 1998 and was defeated in 2002.

I have mixed emotions about the Wall Street demonstrations that are taking place worldwide. I understand the protesters' frustrations, but frankly, unless they articulate specific policy changes, their efforts will have no practical results. I have specific recommendations. One of the common complaints is that there is too much money contributed by corporations and the wealthy to both political parties. This is a legitimate complaint. Currently, almost every elected politician has been beholden to special interests, and he knows that he will continue to receive political contributions only as long as he supports the policies of those who provided these funds.